No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith

Lent to me by Katie Carter, I raced through No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency in one cool, wet Bank Holiday Saturday spent in the caravan at Walton-on-the-Naze.

Like many others (I’m sure), I’d picked up the first of Alexander McCall Smith’s tales featuring (“starring”, surely?) Precious Ramotswe many a time, in the library, at the airport, in bookshops… but I’d never actually bought it – the blurb just didn’t sound enticing enough.

My mistake! Yes, No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency reads like a gentle, calm tale, but it’s one that carries many a sting: death and abandonment, murder and witchcraft; but Mma. Ramotswe and her merry men and women steer a safe, thoughtful and overwhelmingly positive path through it all to the happiness and contentment you can’t but help feel they deserve.

A modern day Aesop’s fable – I’m amazed this book hasn’t got more Amazon reviews.

Buy it: Amazon link